Remembrance of the Fallen
by StarSword-C
Summary: Crossover with the Masterverse shared universe, written with Takeshi6 for Literary Challenge #68: "STO Halloween" on the Star Trek Online forums. Tiana Lanstar visits the grave of her wife Sobaru for the Bajoran Day of Remembrance, and looks back on the first time she celebrated it at Starfleet Academy with Sobaru and an upperclassman named Kanril Eleya.


**StarSword:** For those unfamiliar, _The War of the Masters_, or "Masterverse", is a shared universe continuity between about a dozen of the other writers on the _Star Trek Online_ forums, with material spanning several decades in-universe. Shipboard AIs, Devidian Starfleet captains, Fek'Ihri zombie apocalypses, Section 31 sneakiness, and a whole hell of a lot of superb writing with a strong, coherent primary storyline and a dozens of offshoot stories. Google "War of the Masters Timeline" for an index. "Remembrance of the Fallen"'s framing story takes place a few months after _Sins of the Fathers_ (Masterverse), while the internal story is at about the 3/4 mark in _From Bajor to the Black_ (my stuff, the _Bait and Switch_-verse).

**Takeshi6****:** When I first saw the prompt for this LC, I knew I wanted to do something related to the Bajoran Faith, with Tia visiting Sobaru's grave again. That said, I had no idea what could be done for a Bajoran Halloween, but then I noticed StarSword was coming up with something similar. We started swapping notes, and soon enough we had this thing done.

So, please enjoy:

**Remembrance of the Fallen**

_"The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins—but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars."_  
>— Matt Stover, <em>Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith<em> novelization

**Goralis, Sacrifice Cemetery, April 15, 2413**

The cemetery hadn't really changed much, Tiana Lanstar mused as she walked along the paths, wearing a customized Bajoran Uniform—colored black and Starfleet Tactical Red as opposed to standard Militia colors. Her golden wedding band still sat upon her right ring finger. She carried three small packages in her arms, two that she'd brought with her from her ship, the last one she'd purchased from a local vendor. Some people she passed by glanced at her very swollen stomach, but being on her last trimester of pregnancy, that was only natural.

She walked over to the cluster of markers which, if the cemetery were converted to an actual system map, marked the place where the USS _Wolfram_ had been hit by the Fek Warseed. There were no bodies buried here—those that hadn't been turned entirely into Fek had still been incinerated by Raging Heart's venting of plasma through the infected decks.

She looked through the markers, remembering interactions she'd had with each of them, before she came to the central marker, the one she'd come to see.

Lieutenant Commander Sobaru Lanstar  
>Chief of Security and Commander, Air Group, USS <em>Wolfram<em> NCC-102948  
>2383-2412<br>Her Sacrifice allowed her ship to keep fighting, allowing the system to survive.  
>May she rest with the Prophets.<p>

"Hey there, Sobaru," Tiana said as she knelt next to the marker. "I know I visited you after I took my new posting, but given that it's the Day of Remembrance, I couldn't stay away."

She rubbed a hand against her stomach. "The baby's doing well," she said. "Though I think he or she is going to be just as energetic as you were, if not more so—I can feel him/her kicking up a storm a lot of the time."

She began unfolding her packages. "I brought you some gifts," she said. The first package was a copy of their first-year cadet photos, taken soon after they met. This was placed by the marker, before the second package was opened to reveal a bottle of springwine, Hathoni-produced, vintage 2410. This, too, she placed by the marker, and then opened the third, local, package, revealing two rolls of flatbread-wrapped meat, vegetables, and spices. Hasperat.

"Your favorite," Tiana said, placing the first hasperat next to the marker. "Made from natural ingredients, just as you liked it. Was a little surprised to find a vendor here who actually sold natural hasperat made from locally-grown ingredients." She picked up the second hasperat, along with her own bottle of springwine, and sat down to eat.

"You know, I still remember the first time we celebrated the Day of Remembrance together, back at the Academy…"

* * *

><p><strong>Mendiluze Gymnasium, Starfleet Academy, March 12, 2403<strong>

A thin cloud of steam billowed into the locker room from the women's shower as Kanril Eleya stepped out with a damp towel over her shoulder, shivering slightly as her bare skin hit the cooler, less humid air outside. She nodded to Senior Chief Janet Tanzer, her Krav Maga instructor. "Same time Friday, Chief?"

"I thought you had a CMN 305 exam, ma'am," the short-haired, graying brunette queried.

"No, that's not for two weeks," Eleya answered.

"If you'll pardon my impertinence, I also thought you'd lost a lot of ground after—"

Eleya groaned and opened her locker. "A, only so much studying I can take before I feel like my brain's going to burn out. B, _please_ don't bring Dalton up again—I'm trying really hard not to think about _ye'phekk maktal kosst amojan_." She pulled the blue Academy jacket and trousers out and stripped out of her sweatpants.

Her combadge chirped when she had her undershirt halfway on. "Geh, _phekk_." She struggled to get one arm through the sleeve so she could reach the communicator. "Kanril Eleya."

"Commander Thrass here," her major advisor's slightly gravelly baritone introduced itself. "You got a few minutes to come by my office? Got a job for you."

"Is it going to take long? I've got Romulan 111 in half an hour, sir."

"I just need five minutes, Kanril."

Eleya pulled her uniform jacket on. "All right, I'll be there in ten."

* * *

><p>The secretary for the Naval Weapons program pointed Eleya into the office Haelivthras th'Shvrashli shared with two of the other instructors, who were teaching class at the moment. The Andorian turned in his swivel chair, scratching at his goatee, as she came in and snapped to attention. "Cadet Lieutenant Kanril Eleya, reporting as ordered, sir."<p>

The _thaan_'s antennae twitched slightly in amusement as he gestured at the chair in front of his desk. Thrass pushed a PADD to her across the slab of replicated teak and she picked it up. "Cadet dossiers?"

"Couple of first-years I want you to tutor. They're having trouble in Principles of Electronic Countermeasures."

Eleya took a look over the files. Tiana Lanstar, military history major, and Kojami Sobaru, criminal justice. Sobaru, a familiar name construction. "Hathon Province?" she asked.

"Who, Kojami? Yes, from the city in fact. Part of the reason I picked you—the two of you are Bajoran."

Eleya snorted and dropped the PADD back on the desk. "Yeah, not exactly the same background, sir. Townie versus city girl? Maybe not a good combination."

Thrass folded his hands on the desk. "Be that as it may, you're the only other Bajoran here right now who's finished the course—recruitment on Bajor was a little thin last year and they mostly went to the engineering school—and you earned straight A's when you took it. Plus, there's that run of F's and incompletes you got at the start of this semester."

Eleya gritted her teeth at the memory of the failed relationship the mention brought on. "Your point, _sir_?"

Thrass briefly glared at her tone, then his expression softened. "I talked it over with Admiral Torvig from the Board and we're willing to give you some extra credit, forgive some of the bad grades, if you do this for me."

"Do I have to?"

"No, you can still pass if you get a 90 or better on your remaining assignments, which shouldn't be a problem. But my personal preference would be to have the extra room to maneuver."

She raised an eyebrow. "You could've just said 'yes', sir." She shook her head and downloaded the files onto a data solid, which she pocketed. "Their comm codes are in there?"

"Comm code, singular. They're roomies. Word is they're also a couple."

She stared at him. "You're putting me next to a blue-on-blue? After Dalton?"

The Andorian held up his hands defensively. "It's the rumor. I'm _almost_ certain it's not true, I just didn't want you getting surprised if it is. They're certainly close friends, though. Anyway, think of it as something to do when Jazz Velasquez kicks you out on Friday nights."

"How do you—"

"I'm your professor. I know everything."

* * *

><p>Tiana Lanstar stood in the library next to her roommate, Kojami Sobaru, as they stood before a red-headed upperclassman who cut a rather impressive figure at 185 centimeters. Her green eyes had the look of a veteran, not to mention the scar under her left eye was rather prominent. "So, you're our tutor?" she asked.<p>

The older Bajoran nodded once. "My name's Eleya. Kanril Eleya," she introduced herself in a rough contralto, a little formally. Sobaru noted a Kendran accent to her _Bajor'la_, a characteristic twist on a couple consonants, a lilt on a vowel diphthong. "Commander Thrass said you two needed help in your ECM course?"

"Yeah," Sobaru replied. "We can understand the practicals rather well, but theory's a bit out of our grasp."

"Not to mention Sobaru here being rather hyperactive," Tiana remarked. "She doesn't sit still that well—makes it hard for studying."

"Tiiiiiiaaaaaaa," Sobaru whined. "Don't be mean!"

"It's the honest truth, Sobaru," Tiana replied. "In the year we've been roommates, you've had trouble studying simply because you can't sit still!"

"Yes, well, I think I can handle it," Kanril said in an amused tone. Then, in a harsher, more commanding voice, "Sit _down_."

Almost without conscious thought, Sobaru quickly found a chair. "Sitting down, sir."

Kanril snorted. "Okay, you can get up," she said in a friendlier tone. "I was just checking to see if 'Sergeant Kanril' worked on you."

"'Sergeant'?" Sobaru asked, standing up again. "You were Militia?"

"Mm-hm. Enlisted in '97, naval guns. My CO got me a transfer when the Chamber shut down Space Arm in '01. Oh, and by the way, don't call me 'sir'. I work for a living. Or I used to, at least."

They laughed at that. "So, did you see any action out there?" Tiana asked.

"Little bit, tangled with the Orion Syndicate and the Breen once or twice, but mostly we were on smuggling interdiction." She scoffed slightly, mouth quirking in a grin. "_Phekk'ta_ Ferengi don't know when to quit."

When Kanril mentioned the Orion Syndicate, Tia seemed to grow a bit melancholy. Sobaru, however, didn't notice right away. "I take it you learned to swear in the Militia, too, Kanril," she commented.

"No, Mother was always telling me I needed to watch my language," Kanril answered, sitting down at the table and digging a much-abused PADD out of a worn gray cloth kitbag. "I think it did get worse after boot camp, though. So, uh, WEP 125, 'Principles of Electronic Countermeasures'. And you can call me Eleya." She tapped out a command and waited, then swore again and smacked the rim of the PADD with the heel of her palm. "I _really_ need to get a new one of these."

Sobaru chuckled as she and Tiana sat down near Eleya, Tiana getting past her fit of melancholy, as they began the lesson...

* * *

><p><strong>Tiana and Sobaru's Quarters, Starfleet Academy, April 13th, 2403<strong>

The two first-years' grades had definitely picked up after Eleya began tutoring them. They'd also shared a few stories with each other, allowing Sobaru to learn just why Tiana had gotten melancholy at the mention of the Orion Syndicate: A year earlier, her older brother Tiida had been on a ship that engaged the Syndicate in battle to protect a civilian merchant convoy, and had given his life to save both his ship and the civilians.

The older woman was sympathetic, gesturing to the scar on her cheek. "Souvenir from a greenskin matron; it's got a partner on my stomach. They hid their ship in a comet's tail looking for some easy prey and we didn't see them until it was way too late. By the time Colonel Karryn managed to bring the main gun around and blow them to hell they'd already boarded. Lost most of my gun crew manning a barricade, then another one of them went after sickbay." Eleya took a pull from her mug of coffee. "That's when I got knifed."

Tiana nodded. "Yeah… still, most everyone who hears about my relation to him 'expresses condolences' or gives lip service to his sacrifice—got old after a while, so I started just trying not to let people in." She scowled. "Earlier today, overheard some civilian who'd heard about that incident from a commemorative special newsvid or something and mocked Tiida, saying he could have done it without dying and that Tiida was an idiot—that guy's now in the hospital with a fractured forearm, and I'm lucky I only got a single demerit for it. I still don't know if he'll press charges."

"You're more restrained than I would've been," Eleya remarked.

"Not really—SFPD got there before I could go for anything worse," Tiana replied. "I just…"

Sobaru started shifting herself slightly closer to Tia. Eleya's head cocked slightly, but she leaned back in her chair and took another sip of coffee. "You've had to deal with this all yourself, haven't you," Sobaru inferred, worriedly. "No other family?"

"None—parents died when I was young due to disease, and Tiida was the one to raise me," Tiana confirmed. "My only living relative is a cousin who makes a living as an exotic dancer in one of the colonies."

"I've heard worse ways to make a living," Sobaru commented. "She could be a _politician_."

"True," Tiana remarked with a chuckle, even as she seemed to lean a bit in Sobaru's direction. "Still, no other family aside from her… was just myself and Tiida until last year, when he died… I've been able to fend for myself, but it was still hard dealing with all the pity and 'condolences'—"

Tiana suddenly found herself being hugged by Sobaru. "Sobaru!" she exclaimed, and Eleya jerked a little in surprise. "What—?!"

"It's so sad…" Sobaru replied. "So sad you had to deal with this all on your own… You won't have to worry about that anymore—I'll be here for you, Tia."

Tiana blinked. No one had ever said something like that to her before. "Sobaru…" she said, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. "I… I…" she couldn't say anything more, as she clung to the bluenette, crying, letting out a year's worth of pent-up sorrow and grief.

Sobaru just held her, letting the orangette cry onto her shoulder. After a moment, she looked up. "Hey, the Day of Remembrance is in two days," she said.

"It's Kadera already?" Eleya paused, then shook her head. "I've completely lost track of the Bajoran calendar. 24-hour days are screwing me up. I thought it was still Tamhali."

"Yeah, it is," Sobaru confirmed. "We could all celebrate it together!"

Tia, who was starting to get herself back under control, looked a bit confused. "Day of Remembrance?" she asked.

"One of our faith's lesser holy days," Eleya explained. "It's about celebrating those of us who are, erm, with the Prophets, mainly."

"Yeah," Sobaru agreed. "Though it isn't just Bajorans who we remember these days—it applies to all friends and family members. Tia, if you'd like to participate with us, we could include your brother in that."

"Really?" Tiana asked. "You'd… do that for a non-Bajoran?"

"You're my friend, Tia," Sobaru replied. "I told you I'd be here for you, and I meant it. Besides, the Prophets won't mind."

Tiana smiled. "Thank you, Sobaru," she said.

"Well, then, apparently I have to go see if my mother has a decent recipe for milaberry biscuits," Eleya said. Off Sobaru's look, she explained, "My paternal grandfather's favorite comfort food. I never actually met the guy—he was Resistance, died in the Kendra Valley Massacre years before my parents got married—but Father told me a lot of stories and showed me a few vids. Apparently Grandmother had to make an extra batch just for him every time, 'cause otherwise he wouldn't leave any."

"We should hear some of those stories, then," Sobaru replied. "Along with anything Tia can tell us about her brother."

"I have a few stories," Tiana replied. "And if the dead's favorite foods are involved, I'll need to see if anyone around here is able to make curry the way he liked it… was his absolute favorite."

"No problem," Eleya said. "What kind of curry? Punjabi? Thai? South Vietnamese?" At Tia's look of mild confusion, she explained, "I dunno, I like trying other places' food. Visited the Klingon restaurant on Deep Space 9 a couple times when I was in the Militia and the gladst was fantastic. And this is San Francisco. We got food here from all over both quadrants, never mind Earth."

Tia smiled. "Thai," she said. "And thank you… both of you."

* * *

><p><strong>Goralis, Sacrifice Cemetery, April 15, 2413<strong>

"I really enjoyed that first Day of Remembrance," Tia was saying as she finished her hasperat, a smile on her face as she recalled the memories, even as tears fell down her cheeks. "It was the first time I could talk about Tiida with no worry about false sympathy. It was also when I started training to make my own legacy, rather than follow his. And I think it was when I started falling for you, Sobaru."

After a moment of silence, she stood. "Don't worry. I'll make sure no one else is forced to make the choice you did, Sobaru. And I'll make sure our child has a safe galaxy to grow up in." Another moment of silence, as she looked at the grave marker one last time, now decorated with a photo, a bottle of springwine, and an uneaten hasperat. "Goodbye for now, Sobaru. I'll visit as often as I can."

She then turned and walked out of the Cemetery, not bothering to hide her tears as she headed to the transporter terminal to return to her ship.

* * *

><p><strong>StarSword:<strong> When I saw the prompt for "STO Halloween" I immediately discarded a literal interpretation, because Halloween _per se_ is pretty much exclusively an American thing, and only one of my original cast members is even from the United States (Lieutenant Kate McMillan in the USS _Bajor_'s security department is a New Yorker; the other recurring humans are respectively an Australian Aborigine, a Korean, and a New Zealander). But then I thought about the structural similarities between the Bajoran faith and Roman Catholicism and it occurred to me that I could go back in time to the roots of Halloween as a celebration of the dead, rather than the over-commercialized periodontal disease inducement it is today. So Takeshi and I based the Day of Remembrance primarily on the Latin American _Día de Muertos_, and we placed it in the springtime because farmers plant their crops in the spring, and the Bajorans bury their dead, so I thought we could draw a symbolic link.


End file.
